Cyclone Gita was upgraded to a the highest Category 5 level this morning and is moving in from the east after hitting Fiji’s southern islands, Vanuatu weather authorities are expecting the system to weaken before it enters Vanuatu’s waters. But Peter Korisa of the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office said the island was still on the alert after Gita brought winds of up to 275 km per hour and heavy rain across Ono-I-Lau and Vatoa, Fiji’s southernmost islands last night. The country was devastated by Cyclone Pam in 2015 and…

Cyclone Gita is now a Category 5 storm – the highest level – as it moves away from the islands of southern Fiji, Fiji’s Meteorological service has said. The cyclone hit Tonga hard on Monday night, causing widespread destructions and flooding as the tropical storm teared through the main island of Tongatapu, just south of the capital, Nuku’alofa, with winds exceeding 124mph at landfall. Gita has already caused extensive damage in Samao and American Samoa over the weekend. The cyclone continued to intensify as it moved away from Tonga and…

The Tongan government declared a state of emergency on Monday ahead of the storm’s arrival as thousands of islanders scrambled to seek shelter at newly set-up evacuation centres. Cyclone Gita battered Tonga overnight, ripping roofs off buildings, smashing homes and tearing down power lines. The government’s Parliament House building was completely flattened while flooding was widespread. No deaths have been reported to date and the cyclone has now left the South Pacific Polynesian Kingdom. This evening, Gita is forecast to hit southern Fiji as a category 5 cyclone as it…

The category 4 cyclone battered Tonga in what has been called the worst storm to hit the country in 60 years. Small islands expected to be most affected are Ono-i-lau and Vatoa – with the cyclone having already caused widespread damage in neighbouring Samoa and American Samoa. There were no confirmed reports of deaths from the Category 4 storm that bought winds of around 200 km (125 miles) per hour, but there were a lot of injured people, some seriously, The gallery shows buildings flattened and and severe flooding, causing…

The Tongan government declared a state of emergency on Monday morning to allow its 100,000 inhabitants time to prepare and evacuate their homes if necessary. The category 4 cyclone battered Tonga overnight in what has been called the worst storm to hit that country in 60 years This evening, Gita is forecast to hit southern Fiji as a category 5 cyclone as it intensifies over Fijian waters. Small islands expected to be most affected are Ono-i-lau and Vatoa – with the cyclone having already caused widespread damage in neighbouring Samoa…

That’s all for now. Thanks for following along with us and be sure to follow our coverage throughout the Games! To get you further in the mood … Now the ceremony concludes with a final seven-minute segment called Wish Fire. Fireworks fill the sky for an extraordinary finale as Korean Dokkaebi, curious, fun-loving pranksters, fill the stage. Absolutely astonishing! Yuna Kim, the 2010 Olympic champion in figure skating (and who quite frankly should have repeated in 2014), receives the torch atop the stadium from a pair of hockey players from…

Scientists predict there could be twice as many earthquakes this year and they have a theory as to why the increased seismic activity will occur. They believe there is a link between the Earth’s rotation speed and intense seismic activity. The link between earthquakes and the Earth’s rotation was presented in a paper by Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado and Rebecca Bendick of the University of Montana at the 2017 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. “The correlation between Earth’s rotation and earthquake activity is strong…